The fighting in Rhodesia arose from black demands for
majority rules in a colony governed buy whites.

by F. A. Godfrey

The
genesis of the conflict in Rhodesia may perhaps be traced
back to the decision by the British government to grant responsible government
to the white settlers in Southern Rhodesia in 1923.
Although
legally they could only govern their own affairs, in practice they were
frequently left, as the people on the spot, to interpret and put into effect
laws applicable to the whole population.

In 1923there
were some 35,000whites and
900,000blacks
living in Southern Rhodesia. Inevitably there grew up a bitterness on the part
of the few educated blacks when they saw, for example, the results of the 1931Land
Apportionment Act which allocated 28 million acres to1
million blacks
and 48 million acres to 50,000whites. In
1953the
colonies of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland were linked
together
in what came to be known as the Central African Federation. From the beginning
the white settler government of Southern Rhodesia dominated the federa­tion
politically and economically.

Nkomo
and the ANC

By
1957the
blacks in Southern Rhodesia had formed their own political organization, the
African National Congress (ANC) which was led by Joshua Nkomo. The ANC attempted
to pursue moderate policies so as not to alarm the white population: they
campaigned for an end to racial discrimination and more economic progress for
the blacks. Nkomo was seen by the whites as a

moderate and
initially participated in the politics of the federation. But despite its policy
of moderation the ANC was banned in
1959. Nkomo
was out of the country when this happened but many of the movement’s leaders
were detained and the government of Southern Rhodesia introduced a series of
measures to control the growth of black nationalist disaffection.

A new
nationalist political group was formed in 1960: the
National Democratic Party (NDP) led by Joshua Nkomo, the Reverend Ndabaninge
Sithole and Robert Mugabe. Their supporters hoped that the federation would soon
collapse and majority rule would be forced on the Southern Rhodesian government
by the British government. At the constitutional conference of 1961(to
which the NDP was invited) the existing government in Southern Rhodesia was
given almost complete authority over the colony’s affairs, however.

Attempts to
disrupt elections under the new constitution led to the banning of the NDP, and
in December 1961the Zimbabwe
African People’s Union (ZAPU) was formed. Nkomo went abroad to seek support
from Britain and the United Nations, leaving the remainder of the leadership in
Southern Rhodesia. Under criticism because of his moderate stance, he hastened
back home and began to campaign for the use of violence, as a last resort, to
achieve ZAPU’s aims. In September 1962ZAPU was, in
its turn, banned.

The growing
militancy of the nationalists led
to a strong reaction on the part of the white population. A new political party
of the right — the Rhodesian Front (RF) — was
swept into power in the 1962election, mandated to resist any ‘sell out’ to the
black population. Once in power the RF crushed the nationalist movement and
established a strong, often harsh, system of law and order. As a result, when
the Central African Federation collapsed in 1964and out of the ensuing turmoil Northern Rhodesia
became Zambia and Nyasaland became Malawi, both independent, the only really
stable regime in the area was that presided over by the RF in Southern Rhodesia.

In the early
1960sthe
black nationalist leaders were in disarray: they could not agree on the best
policy. Nkomo wanted to establish a government in exile while the others,
fearful of a loss of internal support for their cause, sought to remain in
Southern Rhodesia. In August 1963Sithole
formed the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a rival party to ZAPU but
with the same broad aims of majority rule. Gang

warfare broke out between the two parties and
there were clear signs of a split based on tribal allegiances, a factor which
was to continue to plague the nationalists’ cause and to restrict the support
for the Zimbabweans from other black southern African states.

The
Smith regime

Ian
Smith became Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia in 1964and
he immediately promoted the idea of independence on the basis of the existing
constitution. The British government, however, was resolute in its determination
to withhold independence without safeguards for the black population. After
the breakdown of negotiations Smith announced a unilateral declaration of
independence in November 1965. Discussions between Smith and Harold Wilson in
1966and
1968 were unsuccessful and Britain,
later followed by the UN, imposed economic sanctions on Southern Rhodesia.
Sanctions were, however, never fully effective, largely because South Africa and
the Portuguese government (the latter still in control of Mozambique) were
sympathetic to the Smith regime.

After being
banned in 1964both ZAPU and
ZANU moved their headquarters to Zambia and began to build up guerrilla armies.
Initial penetrations into Rhodesia by guerrillas failed completely and attempts
to infiltrate in co-operation with South African National Congress guerrillas
met with a similar fate. Indeed, the latter made matters worse for the
nationalists as co­operation with South African guerrillas provided the excuse
for the Rhodesian government to invite South African para­military police
contingents into the country

to
bolster the
Rhodesian security forces.

In the late
1960s ZAPU and ZANU quarreled incessantly; there were further signs of a
breakdown within each organization on tribal grounds, and the Zambian government
grew more and more irritated and then anxious about the ill disciplined, numerous but
ineffective armed guerrillas in its country.

Muzorewa’s
moderate line

In
1971,the
Smith government accepted the terms of a British proposal to resolve the crisis
and it was agreed that the settlement should be tested by a British Commission
in Rhodesia before it was finally approved. The Salisbury government was
confident of a ‘yes’ vote and was amazed by the support for a ‘no’ vote
whipped up by a new black political group — the African National Council —
formed in 1971and
led by a then little known figure, Bishop Abel Muzorewa. The Methodist bishop
had until then always contented himself with moderate criticism of government policies from his
pulpit.

The 1971settlement attempt failed, largely as a result of
Muzorewa’s efforts and in 1973there followed a strong upsurge in guerrilla activity
which forced Rhodesia to close the Zambian frontier. This mounting guerrilla
campaign marked the beginning of the real war between black nationalists and the
white government. By now, the guerrillas had gained access to more and better weapons;
they were rather better trained and, of greatest importance, were assured of
more sympathy and support from the black population in Rhodesia whose political
awareness had been sharpened, paradoxically, by the success of Muzorewa’s
non-violent methods.

The next
development of critical importance was the end, in 1974, of
Portuguese rule in Mozambique. The appearance on the scene of a black government
in Mozambique Favorably inclined towards the aspirations

of the Zimbabwe nationalists had a number of effects on the situation, not only
in Rhodesia, but in southern Africa generally. South Africa, now the only neighboring
country friendly to Rhodesia, grew more anxious to disengage from obvious support for the Smith government. Pressure was
brought on the white Rhodesian leader to reach a settlement with the
nationalists and all South African police units were withdrawn in 1975.

Reacting to this South African pressure and
fearful that the war might intensify, the Rhodesian government attempted to
negotiate with Bishop Muzorewa. The initiative failed but other
nationalists were released from detention and, following an apparently
successful attempt to link Muzorewa’s ANC with ZAPU and ZANU, Smith conducted
negotiations with the complete group. Nothing came of the talks and a proposed
ceasefire arrangement collapsed. The attempt to unify ANC, ZAPU and ZANU was
opposed by some black nationalists, notably Robert Mugabe and also the
guerrilla army leaders of both ZAPU and ZANU. As a result the ZANU faction with
its army, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), established
itself
in the now friendly territory of Mozambique. In 1976 a renewed campaign of
guerrilla activity was initiated from Mozambique and further attempts by the
Smith government to negotiate with Nkomo’s ZAPU
ended in failure.

Smith
under pressure

Mozambique
closed its frontier with Rhodesia in 1976 and the country was now effectively reduced to relying on
South Africa’s
goodwill in all matters. South Africa, however, was now anxious to end the war
in Rhodesia, and through the mediation of Prime Minister John Vorster of South
Africa a meeting was arranged between Ian Smith and Henry Kissinger, the
American Secretary of State. At the meeting the pressure was on Smith, now
effectively facing the world alone, and he was forced to announce that he had at
last conceded the principle of majority rule. Kissinger put forward a joint
American/British plan to implement their agreements and it was arranged to hold
a conference to which all factions would be invited.

At the
conference which followed in Geneva the nationalists proved to be once more in
disarray, in spite of an agreement merging ZAPU and ZANU into a new alliance
called the Patriotic Front. They could agree to nothing except a bitter dislike
of Ian Smith and the rejection of the Kissinger proposals unless they were
modified. Smith, himself, refused to enter into discussion of the Kissinger
plan which he would only accept as it stood, unamended. Stalemate was almost
instantly reached and the meeting disintegrated.

Now the
Rhodesian government rejected further American or British initiatives and
decided to go for an agreement with Bishop Muzorewa on the basis of ‘one man
one vote’ in what came to be known as the ‘internal settlement’. A mixed
white and black transitional government came into being on 3 March 1978 and was
bitterly

opposed
by Nkomo and Mugabe. Nonetheless elections, held in April 1979, led to Bishop
Muzorewa becoming the first black prime minister of what was now called
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia on 1 June.

The Muzorewa government was,
however, doomed to
failure. By seeming, too readily, to adopt the policies advocated by the whites,
the bishop had left himself wide open to criticism from ZAPU and ZANU who gained
increasing popularity among the black population in the country, partly because
they were suspicious of the outcome of Muzorewa’s tactics and partly because
the guerrilla armies were becoming more and more successful.

The Muzorewa government was,
however, doomed to
failure. By seeming, too readily, to adopt the policies advocated by the whites,
the bishop had left himself wide open to criticism from ZAPU and ZANU who gained
increasing popularity among the black population in the country, partly because
they were suspicious of the outcome of Muzorewa’s tactics and partly because
the guerrilla armies were becoming more and more successful.

Zimbabwe
is born

Throughout
1977to 1979the guerrilla
attacks, especially out of Mozambique, increased in intensity. Despite
extremely effective, if on occasion over ruthless retaliatory attacks by
Rhodesian security forces into Mozambique, Zambia and even Angola, there was no
doubt that the government was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain its
authority throughout the country. Large tracts of land, especially in the
north—east, were dominated without challenge on a permanent basis by the
guerrilla organizations.

Recognizing
that the Muzorewa government would be faced with a continuing war that it
could not win and that the surrounding black African states were beginning, for
political and economic reasons, to weaken in their resolve to support ZAPU and
ZANU,

the
British government seized the opportunity to promote the idea of a new con­ference
to resolve the deteriorating situation. By forthright bargaining and persuasion
of all the parties involved, which included seeking support from the interested
black African states, a solution was found.

The plan was one of an extremely delicate nature
involving the assembly of the guerrilla armies at rendezvous on
Zimbabwe-Rhodesian territory under the supervision of Commonwealth troops while
the existing security forces retained responsibility for law and order. This
daring enterprise worked and elections were held under British supervision which
resulted in a government based on one man one vote being formed in March 1980
under the leadership of Robert Mugabe, who had won a resounding victory. The
following month Rhodesia formally became the independent state of Zimbabwe.

(END)

***NOTE***
Source for this article was obtained from the book: WAR IN PEACE: CONVENTIONAL
AND GUERRILLA WARFARE SINCE 1945. printed 1982, author Major F. A. Godfrey MC.